This past Sunday I had the pleasure to interview a nice gentleman named Fred. Fred is an 82-year-old African-American who grew up the first 10 years of his life on the farm in Austin, Ohio. He and his family then moved to nearby Columbus. Given his age, you can calculate that Fred lived on the farm from 1932 (when he was born) until the family moved in 1942.

I had thought that Fred, a modest man, would need some convincing and encouragement to speak about his life. Instead, I was gifted with an eloquent and detailed review of his experiences that lasted almost two hours total. Fred shared about not having the creature comforts and technology that we take for granted today. He slept on a straw mattress in a house without heat or electricity. Being on a farm during the Depression sheltered him and his family from being without food. He recalls that farmers helped the community out and held several rows of their crops open to anyone in need. Do they do that today? Upon moving to Columbus at the age of 10, his family was able to live in a home with electricity but still no heat. Remember party lines? Fred does. Fred continued to share his memories of childhood then into college and beyond. When a gift like this comes along, you let that person speak all they want. Fred didn’t disappoint.

I am pleased to bring to you the first of two outtakes from this conversation; Fred recalling his early life from 1932 to 1952. I think you will be amazed by what he remembers. It is not often that you can learn from living history. What Fred shares is so much better and more worthwhile than anything you can read in a school history book. I hope you will enjoy it and share it with others, especially your children. Our society has come a mind-bogglingly long way in a very short time. It benefits us to stop periodically to realize this, remember and be appreciative of all the hard work and innovation that has occurred in less than 100 years.

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3 thoughts on “Oh How the World Has Changed”

What an amazing opportunity to interview this man. It was very cool to hear about farmers planting a few rows for the hungry. This kind of thing still takes place. There are programs for this (like this one as an example http://www.investanacre.org/) and there are many farmers that still allow for the ancient practice of gleaning fields. When I lived in California, our local food bank would work with volunteers to glean the fields so that the hungry people in our community could have fresh produce. When they had too many of one thing (strawberries for instance) they would partner with other counties’ food banks to exchange good. Local fishermen would also allow trips for volunteers to go out on their boats to catch fish to give to the foodbank so that people could have fresh fish. It was incredible to see the community pull together in that way.

Thank you first for viewing the interview. It turned out to be a very memorable conversation. Both he and his wife have sat for me and taught me so much. You can find her video on my site and my YouTube channel also. But a big thank you for letting me know more about the process of gleaning fields: a) that it is called that and b) that it still continues today in some areas. What a great thing!